‘Need trained teachers to achieve RTE goals’

I did my Masters in English with distinction along with Masters in Education and started my career as a lecturer in a College of Education in Kashmir. Thereafter,due to migration and mass exodus of Kashmiri Pundits,I shifted to Delhi.

In Delhi,I was fortunate enough to have a stint with DPS which is an institution in itself. I was there for 23 years. The work culture at DPS was infectious. From there,I took the plunge of heading another great institution — Maxfort group of Schools. The journey so far as the head of the Maxfort Schools has been indeed challenging and enriching. It has been a source of great satisfaction for me to see Maxfort achieve one milestone after another. As a leader,I have been fortunate enough to be working with an extremely dedicated set of teachers who have helped me establish the name of Maxfort School as one of the top educational institutions in Delhi within a very short span of time. If I dream for Maxfort to reach to the pinnacle of success,it is my team which provides me with the wings to do so.

How as your experience as a teacher been?

I joined DPS Vasant Kunj as an English faculty member. I was young,full of life,bubbly and a go-getter. Since then,there was no looking back. I was the member of the core team and instrumental in setting up various branches of DPS — the first international branch of DPS in Kuwait,a branch in north east belt in Assam. Throughout my journey as a teacher or headmistress and second-in-command at DPS,I have thoroughly enjoyed orienting the staff and the students. It is this training which has enabled me to evolve as a complete teacher. I remember being called the roving ambassador of DPS Society by the then Chairman Narendra Kumarji. Today,I feel proud for having opted for teaching as a profession. It’s been a memorable journey. No doubt,full of hurdles and challenges,but these have made me a strong professional and a content person.

What are the values that Maxfort School stresses on?

The motto of the school is “Empowering Life”. At Maxfort,the focus is on providing students with a basket of skills that empowers them for life. We ensure that every Maxfortian is grounded and morally upright. A lot of focus is laid on inculcating critical thinking skills in children. The Maxfort faculty works hard to make every child a worthy individual. As educators,we at Maxfort ensure that we facilitate their journey and provide them with a plethora of opportunities to explore and experiment. We understand that education is an ongoing process,which should stress upon preparing students for life and develop leadership qualities in them. Therefore,we lay emphasis on learning rather than teaching. Students have been provided with a learning environment,which is an ideal blend of technology and personal guidance. Students thrive in this technologically enriched environment and have emerged as confident and empowered individuals. The functions,festivities,celebrations and achievements of last year are a testimony to the fact that our aim is to ensure holistic development of our children. We want every Maxfortian to experiment and not fear failures because failure itself is a great teacher,which we need to make our children understand. Handling success is yet another skill that we want our children to imbibe.What is more challenging is training them to face failures which all of us come across at some point or the other.

What has your experience been with the implementation of Right to Education Act?

RTE Act is a very welcome and noble initiative. After all,it is the responsibility of all schools to provide quality education to every child,irrespective of the economic or social background of the child. It is also a fact that the future of India totally depends on the kind of education we are able to provide to our children today. But in order to achieve 100% success in this endeavour,we need to bridge the gap between the quality of education and infrastructure in private,public and government schools. Moreover the shortage of trained teachers in India,which is estimated at 1.4 million approximately,is the biggest hurdle in achieving the goals laid down in the RTE Act. All stakeholders need to work unanimously towards this.

Do you think the various stakeholders involved have clearly understood the CCE?

Well,this is indeed a debatable issue. Let’s first understand who the stakeholders are — students,the teachers and the parents. Personally,with due apologies,none of them seem to be happy. If CCE is implemented in the right perspective and executed with the actual mission in mind it would indeed be a boon. But what I have seen is that the children feel more stressed,the teachers are overworked and lack of training is adding to their woes. There is a dire need to introspect this pattern and make desired changes by taking the stakeholders into confidence and implementing the same if we want our education system to be student friendly. A lot of awareness at the parental level is also required. Initiatives in this regard need to be accelerated.

For a progressive school like ours,which is fortunate enough to be in the Delhi region,implementing CCE in its true spirit was an enriching experience for both the students and teachers. But schools which lie in the remote corners or rural belts of India are bereft of training,facilities and resources. This is where such initiatives are required more.

This was the first post-CCE batch of students who took the Board exams,how has their experience been?

Initially,they were a little jittery but I guess they have overcome it now after the first paper. Here also,I would suggest that we bridge the gap between Class X and XI. It is a huge jump for the children. They take a couple of months to settle down in Class XI because of this gap. Having said that,I would like to add that I am sure the coming batches will be better prepared to handle the Board exams. Moreover,the continuous reforms and improvements in CCE are making it better each year.